I dont own a lathe and jerry-rigging grips onto my drill gives only marginal success. Is there a cheap way to rig up a lathe. I dont want to buy one, as I only make a rod or two every couple of years. has anyone had luck in this department?

thanks for any input.

Jared

If you are only doing a couple rodsa year you really do not need a lathe. I have built at least 10-12 in the last year building solely by hand. All you need is a couple V-block Stands.

Do a search for hand wrappers / or V blocks

Look for this in Library at top THE EASY TO BUILD ROD WRAPPING JIG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2006 07:19PM by Barry D Thomas Sr.

The Grizzly Lathe from Grizzly Manufacturing using a drill as the power head is the least expensive and practical that I know of.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Yep Jared----

Been there-Just as Stan posted above. The Grizzly is the least expensive way to go for the amount of turning you want to do.Rod building is only a hobby for me and only turn a few grips.So when Mike Barkley posted a photo of the Grizzly lathe,I went ahead and orderd one.I am very happy with it and you can set it up as a portable unit.
You will have to have some kind of mandrels.You can go to left to the sponsors and click onto Lamar Fishing and order from him or you can use threaded rod.

If you want to see what the Grizzly lath looks like, go to the top of the page and click onto photo and scroll down the page to the photo of the Grizzly.Or you can log onto them at www.grizzly.com.

Hope this will help and good luck.<<<<DON>>>>

Jared; did you mean a Rod machine for wrapping or a lathe for turning grips ?

something for shaping cork and EVA

Jared,

If you have a variable speed drill, there is a very inxpensive way to fashion cork grips using all-thread or cut-off steel rods and bronze bushings or bearings to support the opposite end of the mandrel. I'll try to get some photos in the next day or two to give you an idea how I got started with shaping cork handles/fore grips. It's not ideal but it works..

Stan

You might like this idea [www.peninsulaflyfishers.org]

Mike

Check out the photo page under Equipment. There are a few home made using drills. Might give you some ideas. The grizzley is pretty inexpensive.

If you do the Grizzly, try to determine in advance if your electric drill will fit the Grizzly drill holding collar. Mine did, but the keyless chuck didn’t fit through so I have to remove my chuck and re-install each time I use it. Or, buy the Grizzly electric drill that fits.

The Grizzly lathe was a step up from the home made lathe I was using. Andy Dear’s mandrels are also highly desirable to use with the Grizzly.

Jeff Shafer

For the few grips I turn, the Grizzly is EXACTLY what I required. Along with a set of Andy's mandrels I feel like I can turn just about any grip I want. The beauty of Andy's cork also distracts away from any mistakes that might be made when turning!!!

I mounted my Grizzly on a simple saw horse. I can pick the entire unit up with one hand and take it where I want it. This is useful as I like to turn my cork outside so I don't have to deal with the dust.

The Grizzly is simple, economical, and very effective.

Jay